Gaffel Kölsch | Privatbrauerei Gaffel Becker & Co.

0 characters.
We love reviews! Turn your rating into one with ≥ 150 characters. Awesome. Thanks for the review!

Explain why you're giving this rating. Your review must discuss the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) and your overall impression in order to indicate that you have legitimately tried the beer. Nonconstructive reviews may be removed without notice and action may be taken on your account.

Poured into craft beer glass from 12oz brown bottle bought at Beers of the World (Roch NY). Smell was slightly berry-fruity. Pleasantly clean look and mouthfeel. VERY easy drinking and well ballanced malt to hop taste. This beer will be added to my favorites list.

A good beer with a surprisingly smooth, delicate taste. The beer is fresh and clean in the front of your mouth and leaves a small tingle at the back of your tongue. It does not try to overpower like some IPA with too much alcohol..

Maybe it was the 31 miles I did cycling in summer heat. I had this as my first beer after a great workout. The beer was simply delicious and satisfying. Good thing the bar charged 6.50 or I would have stayed and finished the keg and taken Uber home.

Very prototypical for the style, but brings out the honey and light sweet fruits on the finish. Smell is very adjunct and and a bit skunky. Feel is exactly what you are looking for in a kolsch, with malt forward tendencies. Ok beer, but nothing to seek out

Served in a 0.4 L Gaffel stange. Beautiful, clear, pale gold color that shines in the glass. Small white head with good retention. Subtle aroma here with fresh grainy malt combining with a hint of fruit (think pear or apple). The flavor is an exercise in nuance and subtlety. Everything seems to work in harmony. The lightly sweet grainy malt, the fruitiness of the yeast, a touch of floral hops at the end. Soft, with just enough bitterness in the finish. One of the easiest beers on the planet to drink. But that's what I've come to learn that Kölsch is. Clean, crisp, soft, and eminently drinkable. A delicate style where freshness is key. Find it on tap somewhere and enjoy. I think I'll have another, please!

Why do I rate this beer so highly? Because it's the REAL deal. Call me a purist, but if you want to know what a _real_ Kolsch taste like, you need to start by checking out the source, which is Köln (a.k.a. Cologne) Germany. Kölsch is the official beer style associated with Köln, and they take their beer brewing very seriously. So what, you ask, makes a great Kölsch? By an unusual process (it starts it's life as an ale, then goes through a lagering at the end) you end up with the following characteristics: absolutely crisp and clean taste, but with an exceedingly slight, yet _essential_ and appealing fruitiness to the malt. You really don't taste the hops at first sip. Not even as it rolling in your mouth. Only as you swallow do the hops gently, but firmly provoke your taste buds, making your brain say, "I must have another sip!" That is the Kölsch experience in a nutshell. Here in the States there are three regularly available imported Kölsch beers: Reisdorf, Fruh, and Gaffel. They are all good, but Gaffel is slightly hoppier than the others and it is my favorite, though it is not at all hoppy by IPA standards. We're probably talking 15 IBU's. Fruh is the least hoppy, and Reisdorf is in the middle. There are some good "true to style" Kolsch beers made in the U.S., but once you've tried the original than you can decide what you think of them. (P.s. This is such a clean, simple beer...freshness is of course essential, so get it as fresh as you can)